Ohio State’s 2014 national championship under Urban Meyer was defined by two breakthrough games for the Buckeyes offense. The first was their regular-season takedown of fellow Big Ten contender Michigan State on the Spartans’ own turf. That victory was spearheaded by young quarterback J.T.

Oregon and Ohio State close out college football’s first four-team FBS playoff on Monday, Jan. 12 in Arlington, Texas. Monday night’s matchup is uncharted waters for college football in the new postseason format, as the Ducks and Buckeyes have to regroup for the championship just one week after bowl victories. Oregon used five Florida State turnovers and 41 second-half points to defeat the Seminoles 59-20 in the Rose Bowl.

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It was one of the craziest weeks in years in the SEC. The favorite lost in five of the six league games, with only Alabama holding serve with a 52-0 win over Arkansas. Elsewhere, Vanderbilt beat Georgia in Nashville, Auburn stunned Texas A&M in College Station, Tennessee rallied to defeat South Carolina in Knoxville, and Ole Miss topped LSU with a late field goal in Oxford.

With nearly one-third of the NFL coaching jobs expected to be vacant by year’s end — including sweet gigs like the Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints, as well as the revolving doors of the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona Cardinals and Jacksonville Jaguars — silly season is officially upon us.

You can mock Urban Meyer about his family-first statements. You can question his ability to handle the rigors — both physically and mentally — of coaching at Ohio State. You can cite the high number of arrests that have occurred under his watch. You can call him a hypocrite. But you have to admit that the guy is a great football coach.